Donors leaving L.A. – City ponders merger impact

Facing the loss of its remaining two Fortune 500 companies — Arco and Times Mirror – Los Angeles wonders if other foundations will fill the gaps left by longstanding corporate donors, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Mergers with BP Amoco and Tribune Co. will swallow California’s most visible corporate philanthropists. The two corporate foundations

last year poured $18 million into Los Angeles alone.

With a tradition of broad-based civic funding, both foundations have boosted the city by supporting cultural institutions such as the Olympics, Hollywood Bowl, and Disney Concert Hall.

And while California’s booming private foundations have the resources to replace lost dollars, newer foundations do not place a high a priority on the well-being of the city as on the well-being of its inhabitants, the Times reports.